best format for mac and pc usb thumb drive

#Best format for mac and pc usb thumb drive install#
#Best format for mac and pc usb thumb drive software#

They're instantly recognisable thanks to their frankly garish orange rubber casing, but at least that makes them difficult to lose, as well as providing protection from drops up to 1.2m.Īccording to Lacie it can apparently withstand the pressure of a one-ton car, and is resistant to rain. It’s better to have a bigger hard disk for that, and use the T5 in more specialised situations that need all that lovely performance.Įven the best external hard drives have one major failing in that they're not especially shockproof if you want an external drive that won't die on you if it gets dropped then you need to look at Lacie's range of rugged hard drives. SSDs give you less capacity for more money, so we don’t recommend the T5 for backup.

#Best format for mac and pc usb thumb drive install#

You can install applications onto it, and you can even run an entire alternative operating system off it at full speed, if you’re so inclined. You’ll be able to easily load edit and save 4K video directly on the T5, which can be very slow with a USB hard disk. It's tiny and it'll plug straight into Macs and PCs via USB-C or older USB-A, and unlike hard drives it has no moving parts so it can take a lot more punishment drop a hard drive and it's touch-and-go whether it'll survive the fall, but even a basic SSD can take that in its stride.Įxternal SSDs may cost considerably more than hard disks, but the faster speeds go a long way. If you can't wait and don't mind paying more for your storage, the Samsung T5 SSD is the ideal option with its speeds of up to 550 MB/second. The big downside to external hard drives is all the waiting around you have to do when you're transferring lots of big files in one go.

Finally, to complete your computing setup, read our rundowns of the best memory cards and the best power banks. If you're struggling to choose, though, first read our brief intro to what to consider when buying an external hard drive.ĭon't have room for a physical device in your workspace? Then alternatively, check out our guide to best cloud storage. In this article, we list the very best external hard drives and SSDs available today, and include all the facts and figures you need to find the right model for you.

#Best format for mac and pc usb thumb drive software#

Some come with their own software for easy backups, however you'll also be able to drag and drop files around if you prefer to be in control. And whichever of the best external hard drives and SSDs you choose, you'll find that they're generally easy to use simply plug them into your Mac or PC via Thunderbolt or USB and you should be good to go. If speed matters then you need to be looking at SSDs rather than hard drives while you'll inevitably pay more for a lot less storage, you'll get blazing-fast transfer speeds and, thanks to their complete lack of moving parts, much better reliability. Depending on how much you want to spend, you can get a small and inexpensive drive that'll easily hold your most important data, from simple documents through to larger video files, with room to spare, or you could instead invest in a full backup solution that'll hold everything on your main drive so that it's safe and sound if the worst happens.